Anyway - arrived safely in Cape Town after the long overnight flight from London. Being a HUGE advocate of good service, I won't describe my journey (from hell)in detail. Once again it's not the journey - it's the destination.
Good news! No papers, forms or passes are now needed to get into SA. We zoomed through immigration & customs in record time. A couple of years ago, it would have taken hours ... now minutes. The airport & the area around it is a mess ... BUT only because of the 2010 World Cup (soccer)and all the improvements that are taking place. The airport, the roads ... all being worked on.
The boys have a driver (Jeremy) ... and I have a car (Alfa Romeo) so we drove the 45-minutes to Franschooek without incident. The weather today has been STUNNING!I so wanted to stop to take photos but would have got rather lost and they would have been a waste!
Anyway - La Residence - my current home is ... stunning. Photos and all to come tomorrow. My suite is favoured by a music superstar ...
We arrived mid-morning and had a quick but delicious meal with Stuart McFarlane - the Deputy GM ... then a wee power nap ... wrote 20 postcards ... followed by 2 entertaining mini-features.
The first with Derk Blaisse ... a Dutchman ... who brought cheese to Franschhoek. He's been here for 15 years and instigated an annual cheese festival with products from all over South Africa ... all hand-made by "migrants" from Europe... today we sampled 2 x goudas (made by his son), a gorgonzola and a mozarella (made by Italians) and a Camembert (Frenchman). I am lactose intolerant ... I will suffer later - but for now - who cares! They were yummy!
Then Chris Evason popped by to give me a masterclass in olive oil! I found out about how to choose the stuff, how it is grown, what makes it virgin and I have learnt some new things! Chris is Franschhoek's number 1 olive oil grower ... so "he's the man"!
The boys are very happy. They love their suites ... and after dinner will snooze into tomorrow.
The weather is meant to be fabulous again tomorrow! Yay!
Song of the Day: Rocket Man
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nyha5dFtog4
Weather: Purfect
my view as I write tonight's diary entry ...
